Tall Wall Construction of Standard Wall Modules

ABSTRACT

A tall wall construction for a multiple floor building is provided. The tall wall includes a bottom or first wall frame panel constructed to a standard wall height specification, a top or second wall frame panel constructed to a standard wall height specification, and a structural truss having a height equal to a corresponding floor system. The first framed wall panel is connected directly to the bottom of the structural truss panel and the second framed wall panel is connected directly to the top of the structural truss panel so that the first framed wall panel, the structural truss panel and the second framed wall panel are connected together in vertically alignment forming the tall wall construction.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to light-frame wood lumber wall constructions, and more particularly, relating to a new light-frame wood lumber tall wall construction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Light-frame construction is a well-known and a predominate building technique for building single and multiple story homes in North America and other parts of the world because of its economy. Broadly, light-frame construction is a building method that utilizes interconnected horizontally and vertically oriented dimensional lumber to form wall frames, floor systems, and roof systems to which interior and exterior rigid sheet panels are attached.

Standard walls or standard wall frames and tall walls or tall wall frames are two types of wall frame panel constructions used in light-frame construction. Although wall construction parameters that determine if the wall is a tall wall or a standard wall are well known in the field of the invention, it is beneficial for the purpose of discussion herein to briefly characterize some of the more important distinctions between a tall wall and a standard wall.

Generally, a standard wall is a wall construction having a total height of between 8 and 10 feet. And in a multiple floor building, standard walls on separate floors are separated by a floor system which serves to support and transfer loads from the above walls. Relatively inexpensive dimensional lumber is readily available in pre-cut, standardized lengths for use as wall studs in the building of standard walls.

A tall wall is a wall construction having a total height greater than the height of a standard wall, and typically has a height that spans two floor levels, and is not separated by a floor system. The floor system separation is a key distinguishing feature between a standard wall and a tall wall. An example of a tall wall is at wall at a stairwell opening that is situated at an exterior wall of the house. Unlike standard wall construction, inexpensive dimensional lumber is not as readily available in over-sized lengths for use as wall studs in the building of tall walls.

While exterior walls and interior loading bearing and non-loading bearing walls must be constructed in a manner suitable for providing the required structural support, tall walls require different construction techniques that include higher strength and more expensive lumber compared to standard walls. This is especially true in exterior walls where the wall framing must be of a construction to not only support floor and roof loads, but also resist lateral wind loads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a new tall wall construction capable of supporting floor and roof loads and also resist lateral wind loads by using two more stacked standard wall constructions.

To achieve these and other advantages, in general, in one aspect, new wood framed tall wall construction is provided. The tall wall construction includes a first framed wall panel having a horizontally extending sole plate, a horizontally extending double top plate vertically spaced from the sole plate, and a plurality of horizontally spaced studs vertically extending between the sole plate and the double top plate. A second framed wall panel includes a horizontally extending sole plate, a horizontally extending double top plate vertically spaced from the sole plate, and a plurality of horizontally spaced studs vertically extending between the sole plate and the double top plate. A structural truss panel includes a horizontally extending single bottom chord, a horizontally extending double top chord vertically spaced from the bottom chord, and a plurality of web vertically extending between the bottom cord and the top chord. The double top plate of the first framed wall panel is connected directly to the bottom chord of the structural truss panel and the sole plate of the second framed wall panel is connected directly to the double top chord of the structural truss panel so that the first framed wall panel, the structural truss panel and the second framed wall panel are connected together in vertically alignment forming a tall wall construction.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.

Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawings illustrate by way of example and are included to provide further understanding of the invention for the purpose of illustrative discussion of the embodiments of the invention. No attempt is made to show structural details of the embodiments in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice. Identical reference numerals do not necessarily indicate an identical structure. Rather, the same reference numeral may be used to indicate a similar feature of a feature with similar functionality. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an existing tall wall construction;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of another existing tall wall construction;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of a tall wall construction in accordance with the principals of an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, partial view of the tall wall construction of FIG. 3, showing the interconnection between a successive vertical wall panels and a structural truss in accordance with the principals of an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Now with reference to FIG. 1, there is representatively illustrated a conventional two story wall frame construction 100 including a tall wall frame section or panel 102 spanning the first and second floors 104 and 106. For illustrative purposes, the tall wall frame panel 102 is shown between standard wall frame panels 108, 110 on the first floor 104 and standard height wall frame panels 112 and 114 on the second floor 106.

Tall wall frame panel 102 representatively illustrates one existing tall wall frame construction that is a unitary frame construction including a sole plate 116 located at the base of the first floor 104, a double top plate 118 vertically spaced from the sole plate and located at the roof level of the building, and a plurality of horizontally spaced studs 120 vertically extending between the sole plate and the double top plate. The construction of tall wall frame panel 102 is not desirable because of the construction requires expensive and specialized over-length studs 120 that are capable of spanning the distance between the first floor and rough level of the second floor and meeting support and load requirements. Additionally, studs 120 are required to be more closely spaced than a single story wall, and thus requiring more studs to build the tall wall. In essences the non-standard wall height of tall wall 102 increases the costs of its construction in both material and labor costs.

Now turning to FIG. 2, there is representatively illustrated a conventional two story wall frame construction 200 similar to wall frame construction 100 of FIG. 1, and also including a tall wall frame section or panel 202 spanning the first and second floors 204 and 206. Again, for illustrative purposes, the tall wall frame panel 202 is shown between standard wall frame panels 208, 210 on the first floor 204 and standard height wall frame panels 212 and 214 on the second floor 206.

Tall wall frame panel 202 representatively illustrates another existing tall wall frame construction that is a stacked wall construction including a bottom or first floor wall frame panel 216 and a top or second floor wall pane frame 218 connected to the bottom wall frame panel such that the wall frame panels are vertical aligned. The bottom wall frame panel 216 includes a sole plate 220 located at the base of the first floor 204, a triple top plate 222 (including three-horizontal plate members) vertically spaced from the sole plate and located at the base of the second floor (above the ceiling of the standard wall panels 208 and 210), and a plurality of horizontally spaced studs 224 vertically extending between the sole plate and the top plate. The top wall frame panel 218 also includes a sole plate 226 located at the base of the second floor 206, a double top plate 228 located at the roof level, and a plurality of plurality of horizontally spaced studs 230 vertically extending between the sole plate and the top plate. The sole plate 226 of the top wall frame panel 218 is connected directly to the top plate 222 of the bottom wall frame panel 216 such that such that the wall frame panels are vertical aligned and loading forces are distributed between the wall frame panels.

It can be seen the bottom wall frame panel 216 is not of a standard wall height construction and spans a height from the first floor to the second floor which includes the height of the floor system 232 of the second floor. This construction requires specialized over-length studs 224 that are more closely spaced to meet support and load requirements. Further it can be seen, the top wall frame panel 218 is of a standard wall height construction that can take advantage of using standard length studs. Although studs 230 are standard length studs, to meet support and loading requirements the spacing of studs must be the same as the spacing of studs 224, and thus more studs are required than a standard wall construction.

Although the stacked tall wall construction 202 has advantages over the full length tall wall construction 102 such as lower material costs from not requiring the more expensive over-length studs that span the full two floor levels, its construction has drawbacks. One drawback is the non-standard wall construction of both the bottom wall frame panel 208 and the top wall frame panel 210 which requires over-length studs in the bottom wall frame panel and additional studs having a closer spacing in both the bottom and top wall frame panels.

Now with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is representatively illustrated a two story wall frame construction 300 including a new tall wall frame or section 302 constructed in accordance with the principals of an embodiment of the present invention. Tall wall 302 spans the first and second floors 304 and 306, and includes a bottom wall frame panel 308, a top wall frame panel 310 and a structural truss 312 disposed between and connected to the top and bottom wall frame panels.

Bottom wall frame panel 308 includes a horizontally extending sole plate 314, a horizontally extending double top plate 316 vertically spaced from the sole plate, and a plurality of horizontally spaced studs 318 extending between the sole plate and the top plate. As it can be seen with comparison to standard wall frame panel 320, wall frame panel 308 has a standard wall panel construction including studs 318 of standard length (not over-length studs) and conventional spacing, a standard single sole plate and a standard double top plate.

Similarly, top wall frame panel 310 is of a standard wall construction and includes a horizontally extending sole plate 322, a horizontally extending double top plate 324 vertically spaced from the sole plate, and a plurality of horizontally spaced studs 326 extending between the sole plate and the top plate. As it can be seen with comparison to standard wall frame panel 328, wall frame panel 310 has a standard wall panel construction including studs 326 of standard length (not over-length studs) and conventional spacing, a standard single sole plate and a standard double top plate.

The structural truss panel 312 includes a horizontally extending single bottom chord 330, a horizontally extending double top chord 332 vertically spaced from said bottom chord, and a plurality of webs 334 vertically extending between the bottom cord and the top chord. Structural truss panel 312 is constructed to have a height equal in height to the second floor 306 floor system 336.

Tall wall 302 is includes the bottom wall frame panel 308 and the top wall frame panel 310 connected to the structural truss panel 312 with the double top plate 316 of the bottom wall frame panel connected directly to the bottom chord 330 of the structural truss panel, and with the sole plate 322 connected directly to the top chord 322 of the structural truss panel. Structural screws 336, positioned at each truss panel, are used to connect the top plate 316 to the bottom chord 330 and to connect the sole plate 332 to the top chord 322.

An advantage of tall wall construction 302 the bottom and top wall frame panels 308 and 310 to having the same construction as a standard wall panel which serves to standardize construction of the building and reduce material and labor costs that is not available with existing tall wall constructions. A further advantage of tall wall construction 302 is the construction is not constrained to only two floor levels as are the existing tall wall constructions, thereby now allowing tall wall constructions to span several floor levels and providing new building construction techniques heretofore not available.

In embodiments bottom wall frame panel 308 is constructed to a standard wall height of 8-feet, 9-feet or 10 feet, and studs 318 are of a standard length of 92⅝ inches, 104⅝ inches, and 116⅝ inches, respectively. In embodiments top wall frame panel 310 is constructed to a standard wall height of 8-feet, 9-feet or 10 feet, and studs 318 are of a standard length of 92⅝ inches, 104⅝ inches, and 116⅝ inches, respectively.

Further, and although tall wall 302 is illustrated as including bottom wall frame panel 308 and top wall frame panel 310 having the same standard wall height construction, either or may be of a different standard wall height construction that corresponds to the wall height of standard walls on the same floor level. For example, a first floor of a building may have a standard wall height of 10 feet and a second floor of the building may have a standard wall height of 8 feet. In this example, the bottom wall frame panel of the tall wall would be constructed of a standard wall height of 10 feet to correspond with the other walls on the floor level, while the top wall frame panel of the tall wall would be constructed of a standard wall height of 8 feet to correspond with the other walls on the second floor level.

Additionally, while only a two floor wall construction is illustrated in FIG. 3, tall wall 302 may be constructed to span several floor levels by successive stacking in the manner illustrated.

A number of embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. 

1. A wood framed tall wall construction comprising: a first framed wall panel having a horizontally extending sole plate, a horizontally extending double top plate vertically spaced from said sole plate, and a plurality of horizontally spaced studs vertically extending between said sole plate and said double top plate; a second framed wall panel having a horizontally extending sole plate, a horizontally extending double top plate vertically spaced from the sole plate, and a plurality of horizontally spaced studs vertically extending between said sole plate and said double top plate; a structural truss panel having a horizontally extending single bottom chord, a horizontally extending double top chord vertically spaced from said bottom chord, and a plurality of webs vertically extending between said bottom chord and said top chord; and wherein said double top plate of said first framed wall panel is connected directly to said bottom chord of said structural truss panel and said sole plate of said second framed wall panel is connected directly to said double top chord of said structural truss panel so that the first framed wall panel, said structural truss panel and said second framed wall panel are connected together in vertically alignment forming the tall wall construction.
 2. The wood framed tall wall construction of claim 1, wherein said first wall frame panel and said second wall frame panel have the same height.
 3. The wood framed tall wall construction of claim 1, wherein said first wall frame panel and said second wall frame panel have different heights.
 4. The wood framed tall wall construction of claim 1, wherein the studs of the first wall frame panel are selected from a group of standardized stud lengths consisting of 92⅝ inches, 104⅝ inches, and 116⅝ inches.
 5. The wood framed tall wall construction of claim 1, wherein the studs of the second wall frame panel are selected from a group of standardized stud lengths consisting of 92⅝ inches, 104⅝ inches, and 116⅝ inches.
 6. The wood framed tall wall construction of claim 1, wherein said structural truss has a height equal to the height of a corresponding floor system. 